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Relief for North after AFL hell

David Beniuk

It didn't kill them and North Melbourne hope the hellish opening to their AFL season will make them stronger.

The Kangaroos notched a relieving 10-point victory and ended Port Adelaide's surprise five-game winning streak at Bellerive on Saturday to improve their season to 2-4.

Arguably the competition's unluckiest side after drawing big guns Collingwood, Geelong, Sydney and Hawthorn in the opening rounds, North showed their tough start had put them in good stead in a 14.9(93) to 12.11(83) win at their part-time Hobart base.

"The danger that we had is that we were playing good footy but we weren't getting reward for that effort," coach Brad Scott said.

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"We played a side today with five wins and no losses and feeling really good about themselves and they played accordingly.

"It's more relief for us that we got some reward for the effort.

"The fundamentals are sound but now it's time for us to get on our bike and start to consolidate this win."

That will start with next weekend's game against the Western Bulldogs, with Scott preparing to jet to Perth watch them play West Coast on Sunday.

Scott said his side had learned plenty from its tough season opening, which included heartbreakingly narrow losses to the Cats and Hawks.

"I think we'll be better next time we play them," he said.

Adding to the positives for the Kangaroos will be the possible availability of talls Robbie Tarrant and Lachlan Hansen, and the return from suspension of the inspirational Brent Harvey.

"He's been counting down the weeks and we're really keen to get him in the side, obviously," Scott said.

"He'll be ready to go."

The Power are now 5-1 after proving early-season surprise packets and they fought gallantly after they were down by 33 at the first break and 28 at three-quarter time.

Without grounded head coach Ken Hinkley, who stayed in Adelaide after suffering from a virus midweek, they booted five goals to two in the last to give the home side a fright.

Stand-in coach Alan Richardson said Hinkley had made contact during the match from his home in Adelaide, with his thoughts conveyed to the players during the breaks.

"He did well to restrain himself," Richardson said.

He conceded his side had been clearly beaten in crucial areas but said the first-up loss would change nothing about their program.

"We're really comfortable that if we play this style that we've worked on all pre-season, all summer and in the six rounds to date, including today, that we're heading in the right direction," he said.

Port could be without two-goal 19-year-old Chad Wingard after he was reported for bumping.